Lions' Jeff Backus retires after 12 seasons

4:37 PM,
Mar. 14, 2013

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From August to January every morning for the past 12 years, Dominic Raiola knew where to find Jeff Backus.

By 5:30 a.m., Backus was inside the Lions' practice facility drinking his coffee and reading USA TODAY, with his locker tidy and his shoes neatly in a row.

"Just a model of consistency," Raiola said. "My rule with Jeff is you don't talk to him until he talks to you. Or if 10:30 hits, you can talk to him. But he was just very businesslike. He always had his things together, he always had his priorities right, he always had everything right in line, and that's how he liked it. He was very simple. The ...